Malcolm Owen
Apple's update to the iPad Pro line will arrive within days, a report claims, while expected updates to the MacBook Pro range could land in November.
Rumors have floated about Apple launching updates in its iPad and Mac lineup in October, though possibly as press releases rather than a full-blown event. According to one report, one of the announcements is certain to be for the iPad Pro range.
In an early Saturday release of the "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman writes that the new 11-inch iPad Pro and 12.9-inch iPad Pro will be announced "in a matter of days."
Codenamed J617 and J620, the tablets are said to use the M2 chip, as many rumors and speculation have forecast as the most obvious upgrade. This will apparently provide an almost 20% speed boost over the M1 equivalent.
Physically, Gurman believes the iPad Pros will have the same flat-edge design as the current iteration, continuing the four-year design since it closely aligns with other hardware in the Apple ecosystem.
Speculation about the new iPad Pro models includes the addition of wireless charging with MagSafe, new smart connectors, and an upgrade bringing mini LED backlighting to the 11-inch model.
Gurman also discusses the MacBook Pro lineup, but while they are "on track to launch in the near future," he doesn't expect a release alongside the iPad Pro. He cites how November has historically been the launch month for new Macs, including the first 16-inch MacBook Pro and the first Apple Silicon releases.
The models could chiefly gain new chips rather than a radical overhaul, with a switch to M2 Pro and M2 Max chips replacing the current M1 Pro and Max counterparts.
There is also mention of a version of the Mac mini with an M2 chip, but no details are offered about when that will launch.
Along with a new chip, the Mac mini is rumored to include an overhauled external design, complete with more ports on the rear and a plexiglass-like top cover on a thinner aluminum chassis.
Amber Neely
Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
18 Comments
Imagine that some Pro models have no GPS and no Wi-Fi calling.
Wow no word on the base ipad? It's the most popular ipad!
Incremental updates are some of the best updates. Too much ADD in the media space, continually looking for something fresh to talk about, and incremental updates are boring. However, they often are the most stable, most reliable type of product, especially when combined with mature software, assuming the new components are more power efficient.
For iPads, Apple has a lot of catching up to do with the software. It really should be priority number 1 to get iPadOS to be competitive to PC operating systems. Apple should not leave anything off the table. An iPad should be able to do anything a PC can do.
For this round of hardware, curious that there aren't any rumors of what type of cameras it will have. The iPhone 14 cameras are bigger, which would make for compatibility issues with the existing iPad Pro case ecosystem. The camera bump will be bigger if they have iPhone 14 cameras, with sensor shift stabilization, 48 MP sensors, etc. That means the Magic Keyboard for iPads will be incompatible. So, they won't have camera improvements? Crazy to make a product decision based on accessibility compatibility.
The iPad Pros should be landscape default devices. Front sensors along the long side. It should have 2 TB4 ports. The Smart Connector should be TB4 protocol.